When the status of legendary is bestowed upon a band there are all manner of complications. Although this undying crown brings popularity and bravado it also brings expectation and critique. Many a band has released a stand out testament to music that shakes foundations and changes the course of history. Yet equally many of these bands have found themselves in their latter years to be a flailing mess, trudging out effortless album after album with little to no care from a dwindling fan base.
Speaking more positively however let us look to the legends themselves and more importantly a legend of Grindcore, the mighty Terrorizer. 1989’s World Downfall is quite possibly one of the most classic Extreme Metal albums ever created and has been revered by music fans since its release. However Terrorizer haven’t been without their issues, countless splits, the passing of Jesse Pintado and a less than popular comeback album. Although hats off to the Grind masters they have soldiered on since their reformation in 2009 whereby after a few years in 2012 they bestowed Hordes Of Zombies upon the globe. Now with that behind them we enter their latest offering Caustic Attack.
From the very first moments of Turbulence we are thrust in Grindcore fury, machine gun drumming, nasty guitars, frantic old school harsh vocals this track has it all, even injecting a dose of barbarity in its slower sections. This theme is carried throughout and becomes prevalent again in Conflict And Despair, Crisis and The Downtrodden. Most tracks also exhibit elements of memorability particularly the faster paced songs towards the albums end, Caustic Attack and Poison Gas Tsunami. All of this sounds perfect right? Well amid this Grindcore warfare is a generic edge like no other.
To be completely honest this album has a feel that if it were being played by an band at a local show you’d be pretty impressed. Although said band would be pretty low on the bill and you’d simply palm them off as another Extreme Metal act, this isn’t exactly what one expects from the banner of Terrorizer. At points Caustic Attack is genuinely exciting and then you remember that it is stuck in a perpetual loop of not sounding relevant in the slightest and equally not worshipping the past enough to be considered nostalgic, rather it lingers in a middling space akin to the tones produced by the album.
Terrorizer have had their fair share of bad press since Darker Days Ahead and perhaps that albums title has served as a sort of foretelling. Hordes Of Zombies fell once again on flat ears as generic extremity and thus Caustic Attack does the same. If the previous two Terrorizer albums were the nail in the coffin then this is the burial. I really do hate to put a band as classic as Terrorizer down and so therefore with that thought in mind let us end this review on a slightly more positive note. In reflection to Hordes Of Zombies there is far more enjoyment to be had out of Caustic Attack, yet it remains average at best.
(5/10 George Caley)
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